


The One Where Lance Moves Out

by the_lanky_kat



Series: The Best Place for Us to Be (is by each others sides) [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates, Friendship, Gen, I don't wanna make you a bad person bc you're not but I had to have some sort of tension, I'm sorry Shay, Lance is actually a mildly shy boy, he doesn't wanna leave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 10:16:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11530146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_lanky_kat/pseuds/the_lanky_kat
Summary: Lance has to move out. Hunk and Shay are going to move in together. Lance is upset. Pidge makes it better... sort of.





	The One Where Lance Moves Out

**Author's Note:**

> So in this series I'm posting each "chapter" individually as a fic by itself. I will be posting all of them in one story (under the same name as the series title) because they all go together in a linear timeline and they all complete a story. FYI this whole thing is going to be much longer than I originally intended. Like, it was maybe 20 chapters and now it's a lot longer. But at least the chapters are only a few thousand words long, so this thing won't be TOO much of a monster.
> 
> I hope you enjoy :D

"I can't _believe_ you're doing this to me, Hunk!" Lance laments dramatically, flinging his free hand around as he talks on the phone.

" _Okay buddy, listen. I know you are frustrated, but hear me out. Maybe this is for the better? You always said that you're an extrovert, and that you love meeting new people, right? Well now you get to meet another new person, even live with them! A whole new friend, buddy! Think about it!_ "

Lance scowls at a cute little blue fish that swims around in its tank beside him, and almost immediately feels bad for taking out his frustration on such a cute and innocent little creature. It's his _job_ to be around these adorable little fish, and he had just been scowling at one like it murdered his _abuela_. His coworkers would be ashamed. Lance attempts to wipe the scowl off of his face, but it's becoming increasingly more difficult the longer he thinks about it, considering Lance has to _leave_ Hunk and he's telling him to be _happy_ about it!

"Okay, but Hunk, now that Shay's moving in with you—which, man, I'm so proud of you for finally asking her if you guys could have an apartment together, that's really fantastic—there's gonna be no more movie marathons on Saturday nights! No more awesome lasagna for me! No help in chemistry for you! Man, our Sunday morning bake-offs aren't going to exist anymore! Not to mention snuggle-morning-Saturdays! I can't be happy about leaving you, bro. We've been best friends since, what, eighth grade? I've been living with you since junior year of high school!" Lance says.

He catches a few people looking at him like he's crazy, with his crazy hand gestures and the like, but he can't really bring himself to care.

" _Lance, bro, we can still do all of that stuff together. You're always gonna be my best buddy and I'm always gonna have time for you, okay? I love you, man_ ," Hunk says, his voice catching in his throat.

Lance feels his eyes burn, but Hunk's right, and that's a comforting thought. They'll still do stuff together, definitely. Hunk and Lance, best buddies for life. Not even Hunk's girlfriend moving in with him can get in the way of what they have! Best buddies for _life_!

"Okay dude, you're right. But what am I gonna do about the whole living situation thing?"

" _Well, you can move back into the—_ "

"No way, Hunky," Lance says, adamantly shaking his head even though Hunk can't see him. "I'm not moving back to the dorms. No way, buddy. Not in a million years."

" _Then that narrows down your options_ ," Hunk says calmly. " _Either you get your own apartment off campus, or you move into an apartment with someone else._ "

"Hunk, you know I can't afford my own apartment," Lance says, sighing.

From the corner of his eye, Lance sees his dickwad of a boss—Sendak—point at his watch insistently. _Break's up_ , Sendak mouthes with a sneer.

" _Then you'll have to room with someone else. Pidge is out, because for some god awful reason they want to move back into the dorms, so—_ "

"Sorry to interrupt, bud, but I gotta get back to work. I'll meet you at our apartment, okay?"

" _Yeah man, it's all good. We'll talk later._ "

"Love you, bro."

" _Love you too, buddy._ "

Lance hangs up, sighing deeply and trying to rub out the headache that's forming behind his eyes.

"Hey, McLain! Break's been up for two whole minutes! Get back to the gift shop you lazy bum!" Sendak yells from across the aquarium, causing people to give them both even more weird looks than before.

Lance gives his boss an amiable smile that's probably more of a grimace at this point, and turns to wander back to his spot behind the counter at the aquarium gift shop. He scrunches up his face into a bad impersonation of Sendak and mimics something about "lazy bums" and "break's up". As if this day wasn't already stressful enough, Lance sees a tour bus pull up outside, and he sees his coworker's face go pale, as if the life was sucked out of them at the sight of a little more than twenty elderly people all over the age of 75 disembarking a shoddy grey tour bus.

Well, at least Lance wasn't suffering alone.

*****

When Lance gets back to his and Hunk's apartment—it's his for _now_ , he reminds himself—Shay and Hunk are talking quietly in the kitchen as Hunk dices up carrots. It's stupidly domestic. Lance can't help but grimace when he sees how moony-eyed they both look.

They're so cute it's gag worthy.

Lance wipes the grimace off of his face and plasters on the best smile he can manage, chirping out a greeting.

"Hey man," Hunk says, not turning around. "We're having hotdog soup tonight!"

"Awesome," Lance mutters.

Hotdog soup is Lance's comfort food. It sounds kinda gross, but it's actually one of his favorite dishes. Normally, he'd be ecstatic that Hunk was making the stew-like soup, but he knew that this was the way that Hunk delivered bad news. The process usually went something like this:

Hunk carefully brought up the subject, preferably over the phone so Lance could have his mini-meltdown far, far away from Hunk so that they didn't have a repeat of The 2015 Incident. Then, Hunk prepared a delicious meal (preferably one that Lance loved). The meal was to pacify Lance, sooth Hunk's anxiety, and hopefully have Lance shoveling food into his mouth long enough to allow Hunk to say his piece without being interrupted. Just as Lance would be ready to lash out, Hunk would serve dessert (hopefully with ice cream). The sweets would allow Lance to drown his sorrows/anger in sugar and buy his brain enough time to calm down and look at the situation rationally so Lance wouldn't say something he'd regret later. Finally, they'd talk about whatever the problem was, and then find a way to solve it.

Needless to say, when Hunk, Shay, and Lance all sat down at the table to eat, things were pretty tense. But Lance was going to be rational about this from the start.

Hunk was a grown up. Hunk was a man who had a girlfriend. Hunk was always going to be Lance's best buddy in the whole world. Hunk and Lance would not be living together forever, despite what Lance wished for. Lance was going to be _happy_ for them and move out as soon as possible. Lance was _not_ going to freak out. Lance was calm. Lance was cool. Lance was rational.

Hunk smiled at Shay as he blew on his soup. It was sickeningly sweet and it sorta made Lance want to throw up. If he ever looked at someone like that, he wanted to be slapped in the face, because that was super cute and super gross. And if Lance thought it was so cute that it was gross, then that was bad news, because Lance was a romantic at heart.

"So Lance, how was work?" Shay asks sweetly.

The whole "calm, cool, and rational" thing lasts about as long as expected.

"Hell, as usual," Lance snaps, pushing his soup away. "Don't pretend you care, _Shay_. I'll be out of your hair before you know it. No more "stupid Lance" to take up your precious lovey-dovey time."

Lance pushed his chair out and storms into his room, ignoring the stunned silence that follows his enraged footsteps. He slams his bedroom door shut like an overly emotional teenager for good measure and launches himself face first onto his bed.

He's not crying.

He's _not_.

He shakily manages to wrap a hand around the stuffed lion Hunk got him for his 20th birthday last year. He lifts his head up and curls around Blue protectively, burying his face in her fur. As he cries, he realizes that part of what he feels is _shame_. He knows he shouldn't act like a child whose favorite toy is being taken from him, but he can't help it.

Hunk is his best buddy, and some stupidly perfect girl is driving a wedge between them. He's properly ashamed of how he's acting, but he's more ashamed of how much he _hates_ Shay right now. She's so _kind_ and _sweet_ and _smart_ and she could probably bench press Hunk if she wanted to.

 _Ugh_. He feels _ridiculous_.

He makes a futile attempt to press further into Blue's fur. He genuinely feels bad for how he acted towards Shay, just a little bit. Actually, she's not even the one to blame. Lance could stay if it weren't for her annoying brother. Rax is a major douchecanoe who won't even let Shay and Hunk sleep in the same room together. And even if they got a three-bedroom apartment (or Lance slept on the couch or something), Rax said he wasn't comfortable with Lance even being near his precious Shay.

So yeah, maybe he overreacted. Most of this isn't even Shay's fault. She can't be blamed for how much of a controlling (yet a little sensible, in a way) asshole her brother is.

Lance feels like he should apologize, or at least go back out there and snatch his bowl of hotdog soup from the table, but he knows he needs to wait a while before going back out there so he doesn't freak out again.

Instead of leaving the safety of his room, Lance lifts his face from his stuffed lion in order to locate his phone. It's charging by his bed, so he wiggles close enough that if he stretches _really_ far, he can reach it. Upon retrieving his phone, Lance stares at Hunk's number. Usually, when he's upset about something, he talks to Hunk. But with that stunt he pulled during dinner, he figures it's best to leave Hunk and Shay alone for now.

His eyes flicker to another contact, the contact with the devil emoji right beside their name. Lance decides that little baby Pidge is better than nobody at all, and decides to text them.

**Good King Lancelot --- > Pidgeon**

**Good King Lancelot** : hey

 **Good King Lancelot** : r u busy

 **Pidgeon** : I'm always busy

 **Pidgeon** : What do u want

 **Good King Lancelot** : meet me @ castle of lions cafe in 20?

 **Pidgeon** : Fine

 **Pidgeon** : Ur buying tho

 **Good King Lancelot** : k

*****

Lance arrives at Castle of Lions Cafe to find Pidge in their normal meeting spot, looking about 5 seconds away from bolting out the door. He puts on his best smile and saunters over to where his small friend is seated, flashing a wink at a pretty blonde waitress as he passes by. Pidge sees him, and rolls their eyes when the waitress giggles cutely at Lance.

Lance slides into the booth Pidge is seated at and Pidge raises their eyebrows.

"So, what could you possibly want at—" Pidge checks their phone "—8:33 at night?"

"It's 8:33 already?" Lance realizes.

"Yeah, dummy," Pidge says kicking Lance under the booth and causing him to wince. "What's up?"

"You know how Hunk's moving in with Shay as soon as I move out?"

"Yeah, so what? You agreed to the terms and conditions," Pidge points out.

Lance looks guiltily at the little dark brown specks in the table. Pidge glares pointedly at Lance's head, like they're trying to make it explode or something.

"You _have_ to move out. You said you would before the school year started! It's _September_ , Lance."

"I know," Lance grumbles, still examining the dark spots on the table. "I just... What if we grow apart? He's not going to have time for me now that he's got a girlfriend..."

Pidge kicks him under the booth once more, except this time it _hurts_. What are they _wearing_? _Soccer cleats_?

"Lance if you keep this up, I'm going to keep kicking you. You two aren't going to grow apart! You won't see each other as much, but you'll still be best bros or whatever you call yourselves! You're being ridiculous! Man up! I'll even help you find a roommate!" Pidge says.

"Really? Do you even _know_ people other than me and Hunk? Plus, who's looking for a roommate this late in the year?" Lance asks, perking up slightly.

"I have my connections," Pidge says cryptically, pushing up their glasses for the added dramatic affect.

"Seriously? You know someone?" Lance asks, leaning across the table.

"Yeah, sure. I know a certain someone who moved out of his brother's apartment and can't afford an apartment for more than a few months on his own."

"Is he hot?" Lance mock-whispers.

Pidge gives Lance a Look that says ' _is that really important right now_?' _Yes_ , Lance thinks back, _it's super important_.

Pidge sighs defeatedly and rubs at their forehead.

"I don't know, maybe? I don't really pay attention to that sort of thing. All I know, is that he needs a roommate this late in the year, he's got a cat, and he works at the little bookstore just off campus. I don't really know the guy."

"Then how do you know he needs a roommate?" Lance asks, lifting an eyebrow.

"My brother's boyfriend is his brother. They've been living with him until now. You remember Takashi Shirogane?" Pidge asks.

"Do I _remember_ Takashi Shirogane?" Lance asks, incredulous.

The one thing Lance knows about Takashi Shirogane is that he's a _legendary_ frat boy. Lance remembers going to one of his parties back in his junior year of high school (he'd gone with his sister and her friends). Not only was Takashi Shirogane legendary at beer pong and could hold his liquor like a champ, but apparently he was also super nice too.

Takashi Shirogane had been a hit-em-and-quit-em type of guy back in the day, but apparently he always made his one night stands breakfast after he woke up and never once forgot their names. When they had a raging hangover, the guy even offered to drive them home. Takashi Shirogane was so great, he was known as the _champion_ by pretty much the whole university.

" _Takashi Shirogane_?" Lance repeats, only a tad bit embarrassed with the way his voice squeaks.

Pidge just looks confused.

"Yeah? What about him?"

"How did _your brother_ —nerdy little Matt Holt—meet _Takashi Shirogane_ , legendary frat boy from like, four years ago?" Lance squeaks.

Pidge looks like Lance has given them an epiphany.

"Shiro was a _frat boy_?" Pidge says, their eyes lighting up. "That explains so much! I should have known! At New Years he drank so much I thought he was going to _die_ , but he just kept going!"

"Yeah!" Lance exclaims. "That guy was legendary at holding his liquor! Like, he could out-drink pretty much everybody! That guy is my hero! How did he even meet Matt? They have, like, nothing in common!"

"You remember two or three summers ago when Matt broke his scrawny leg jumping off of our roof trying to get his kite back?" Pidge asked. "Well, Shiro was doing a tour of a hospital when it happened. Shiro's going to become a pediatrician, and the lady at the hospital thought Matt was under 18, so they happened to bring to the wrong part of the hospital, and that's where he met Shiro."

"Holy shit!" Lance laughs, practically vibrating in place. "Why haven't you told that story before?"

"No clue. I guess it was one of those things that I just was going to use for blackmail towards Shiro at a later date," Pidge admits.

"Well that's true gold. I'm going to tell that story to, like, everyone I meet. Hey, do you think you can arrange for me to, like, meet Shiro or something? The guy's awesome!" Lance says excitedly.

"Probably. Shiro will probably be there if you decide to move in with his brother. The guy's super protective over Keith," Pidge says.

"Awesome!" Lance exclaims. "Do you think you can arrange for a meeting or something? And by the way, who names their kid _Keith_? That's such a Texan name. So unoriginal."

"Who names their kid Lance?" Pidge snorts, rolling their eyes. "And yeah, I'll think about telling them you want to be roomies with Keith. What day works for you?"

Lance mentally checks his schedule, only slightly pouting over the fact that he has no dates scheduled this week.

"I guess I can meet them tomorrow? I have work at 2, so anytime before then works."

"Awesome," Pidge says, typing on her phone.

Lance nearly jumps out of his skin when his phone vibrates in his pocket. When he checks it, Pidge has sent him a message. He lifts an eyebrow curiously at them while Pidge snickers under their breath.

**Pidgeon --- > Good King Lancelot**

**Pidgeon** : 653-XXX-XXXX

 **Pidgeon** : There's Keith's number

 **Pidgeon** : U guys figure it out

Lance glances up at Pidge, who's slinging their book bag over their tiny shoulders.

"I thought you were going to arrange a meeting," Lance says pointedly.

"Nah man, you do it yourself. I'm not your babysitter. I've got a calculus test to study for," Pidge says, shrugging and walking away from their booth.

"No! Pidgey! I don't know him! It'll be awkward!" Lance calls out.

"Don't be a little bitch!" Pidge calls back before flipping Lance the bird and walking out of the cafe.

Lance groans and flips them off even though he knows that they can't see him. He lets his head fall to the table and he decides to just lay there until Pidge magically comes back, or he dies, one or the other.

"Sir?" a pretty waitress asks sweetly. "Are you alright?"

Lance immediately perks up and flashes her his best flirty smile.

"Are you a cat? Because you're _purr_ fect," he says, grinning.

He tries not to feel too disappointed when she giggles but walks away all the same.

*****

Lance _doesn't_ want to meet this Keith guy. At all.

"Come on, Lance," Hunk says, patting Lance's shoulder comfortingly. "It won't be so bad. Think of him as just another friend!"

Lance wants to glare at Hunk, but he can't bring himself to because he guy's just so perfect. He ends up leaning his head against Hunk's shoulder and glaring at the phone in his hand instead.

"But, if I text him, it means I'm officially trying to move out. I don't want to, Hunk," Lance laments, curling closer to his best friend.

Hunk pats his head soothingly.

"Buddy, I know you're nervous, but you just gotta do it, okay? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. Because I don't want to pressure you. And I mean my whole offer still stands where I just won't have Shay move in and we can still live together, because I don't want to pressure you, but I feel like I'm pressuring you, and all of this is—"

"Hunk, buddy," Lance says quietly. "It's alright. I know you love her, man. So I'm going to do the right thing."

Lance looks at the phone in his hand like it's the enemy, but he types out a message to a new contact instead of chucking it across the room like he wants to.

**Good King Lancelot --- > 653-XXX-XXXX**

**Good King Lancelot** : is this Keith? The guy who needs a roommate?

Lance is reluctant to press send, but he does it anyway.

Foolishly.

No! He wants the message to come back!

"HUNK WHAT HAVE I DONE!" Lance screeches, and this time actually chucks his phone across the room. "I DON'T WANT TO MEET HIM! I DON'T WANT TO LIVE WITH HIM! HELP ME GET THE MESSAGE TO COME BACK!"

Hunk slaps a hand over Lance's mouth, muffling his cries of nervousness.

"You'll be fine, buddy. Calm down."

"WHAT IF HE THINKS I'M A STALKER? WHAT IF PIDGE HASN'T TOLD HIM THAT THEY TOLD ME THAT HE NEEDS A ROOMMATE! WHAT IF—"

Hunk's hand slaps over Lance's mouth again.

 _Oh god_ , Lance screams internally, _what if he's a serial killer!_

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are much appreciated. I hope you enjoyed reading! :D


End file.
